Category: Business

Despite two hurricanes devastating the country the economy has not slowed down but has risen by 3% as per the reports published by the Department of Commerce on Friday. The Irma and Harvey which shook the country and also caused a low hiring rare, but irrespective of that the economy grew by 3%, 0.5% more than what was forecasted. That can be attributed to consumers who with regular spending have helped in bettering the forecast for growth. Florida and Texas faced severe job losses as many as 33000 jobs in September and is a record for the most unemployment in seven years. These two storms were attributed as a reason for job losses as per labor department.

The area which was most impacted by the Hurricane Harvey was Houston and also holds the fifth position as the most significant metro city in the country. It also contributes to about 3% of the total economy. The dent to the economy on the GDP is not yet reported; the job losses were mostly attributed to the hurricane-related causes. As per the department of commerce, the hurricane impacted the business in those areas which include the oil, gas and agriculture sectors. The economists say that it is impossible to assess the overall damage the storms caused to the overall economy in the third quarter.

The economists say that it is heartening to know that the spending by customers which makes up 70% of the GDP increased by 2.4% this quarter. Had it not been for the storms the reports would have been much better. But the expenditure in business was good with income and investment increasing at a rate of 3.9%. The export sector saw a drop and only grew at 2.3%, the spending by the government also reduced by 0.1%.

Economists are pointing that sustaining this 3% increase may grow difficult as the U.S human resources are getting old and this impacting the productiveness.

The bitcoin is on a high and has reached its highest since its inception. The currency was at $966 at the start of this year and has now soared to $5,243, compared to last year price it has increased by 750% and is now four times more valuable than gold. The price though on the rise is still very inconsistent. It went down to $3000 in September due to fears of a Chinese government clampdown on this currency. The Chinese have passed an order to bring a stop to trade and also for accepting new registrations. They feared that the bitcoin would cause financial troubles to their economy.

Despite the ban on this currency in China, the consumers are getting high returns says Jordan Hiscott, Ayondo Markets chief trader. China was seen as a significant contributor with close to 10% of consumption globally reportedly came from that country. Like China, Russian President Vladimir Putin also wanted the cryptocurrencies to be regulated as they can cause considerable risks to the economy like concealing money, evading tax, providing cash to a terrorist organization, etc. He was also against putting too many restrictions which caused the bitcoin to gain popularity.

Amidst alerts of a bubble burst of Bitcoin, it is trendy among investors. The acceptance of this currency is also high. For example, Many are accepting payments of house rents, hotel rents, etc. through cryptos.

A fortnight ago, Japanese governments also amended its laws to allow payment through Bitcoin. Even famous people like Floyd Mayweather and Paris Hilton are supporting the cryptos.
A cryptocurrency helps you to make payment for any product or service without having to go through bank payment gateways. That means you are no longer using any bank or traditional ways like credit cards to pay. The banks and other financial institutions are worried about crime and laundering of money using bitcoin as the transactions are done without needing identification.